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<h1 align="center"><span class="pagetitle">About Block Formatting in HTML...</span><br>
<font size=2>= <span class="sitetitle">Index DOT Html</span> by <a href="../../misc/email.htm">Brian Wilson</a> =</font></h1>
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     <td valign=top align=center><a href="#justify">Justification</a> |
     <a href="#scope">The Full Scope</a><br><a href="#special">A
     Special Generic Style</a> | <a href="#other">Other Block Elements</a></td>
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     <td valign=top align=center><big><a href="#related">Related Sites</a></big></td>
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<a name="justify"></a>
<dl>
<dt><big><b class="mainheading">Justification for Block Formatting</b></big>
    <dd>The main intent of SGML (and the derivative HTML language) is to be a
        device independent language for describing the content of documents. To
        accomplish this, it tries to divorce presentation rules from document
        content. Simple Block Formatting elements all introduce line-breaking
        behavior to their display while also assigning a semantic purpose
        to the content.
        <br><br>

        Block Formatting in HTML provides the means to render content in sections
        that are distinct both physically and often visually from other
        surrounding sections and content. Browsers should render Block Formatted
        sections with a line break before and after the content block in
        addition to any other styles applied. <a href="character.htm">Character
        Formatting</a> (the other main content formatting class of elements), on
        the other hand, will render visual changes in-place.
</dl>

<a name="scope"></a>
<dl>
<dt><big><b class="mainheading">The Full Scope of Block Formatting</b></big>
<dt>[&lt;<a href="a/address.htm">address</a>&gt;,
     &lt;<a href="b/blockquote.htm">blockquote</a>&gt;,
     &lt;<a href="c/center.htm">center</a>&gt;,
     &lt;<a href="h/heading.htm">Hx</a>&gt;,
     &lt;<a href="p/p.htm">p</a>&gt;,
     &lt;<a href="p/pre.htm">pre</a>&gt;]
    <dd>Other HTML element groupings also exhibit &quot;Block&quot; nature
        similar to that of the Block Formatting elements. All
        <a href="lists.htm">lists</a>, <a href="tables.htm">table</a> and
        <a href="forms.htm">form</a> structures have the basic linebreaking
        behavior that is characteristic of Block Formatting in order to produce
        distinct regions of content. Discussion of these topics is best separated
        from Block Formatting concepts because these other element groupings are not
        meant to assign a simple semantic style to the content.
        <br><br>

<a name="special"></a>
<dt><big><b class="mainheading">A Special Generic Block Style</b></big>
<dt>[&lt;<a href="d/div.htm">div</a>&gt;]
    <dd>The introduction of Style Sheets has added two new HTML elements to
        allow for generic situations where no specific HTML markup would
        be appropriate. The <a href="d/div.htm">DIV</a> element (and its companion
        Character Formatting element <a href="s/span.htm">SPAN</a>) carry no
        inherent semantic meaning assigned to its structure - the author can
        assign Style Sheet presentation properties as needed. Of course there is
        <em>one</em> inherent property given to DIV - the linebreak before and 
        after its content.
        <br><br>

<a name="other"></a>
<dt><big><b class="mainheading">Other Block Formatting Elements</b></big>
<dt>[&lt;<a href="m/marquee.htm">marquee</a>&gt;,
     &lt;<a href="m/multicol.htm">multicol</a>&gt;, &lt;<a href="h/hr.htm">hr</a>&gt;??]
    <dd>I only recently decided to place these elements in this section,
        having moved them from the 'miscellaneous' section. Marquee and Multicol were
        both created by the browser companies and are not supported in any HTML 
        standard, but they do exhibit the requirements necessary to be called Block 
        Formatting elements. They define blocks of content, usually have some semantic 
        meaning, and have an implied line break before and after the block. (Note: 
        I also place HR in the "miscellaneous" category, but it is a vague element 
        to define and it exhibits many "block" characteristics, so it seemed to 
        deserve mention here.)
</dl>


<br>
<a name="related"></a>
<br>
<dl>
<dt><big><b class="mainheading">Related Sites</b></big>
<dt><b class="subheading">Official References</b>
<dt><a href="http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1866.txt" class="relevant">http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1866.txt</a>
    <dd><span class="relevant">RFC 1866: The HTML 2.0 specification (plain text)</span>
<dt><a href="http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/html-spec/" class="relevant">http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/html-spec</a>
    <dd><span class="relevant">The web version of the HTML 2.0 (RFC 1866) specification</span>
<dt><a href="http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Wilbur/" class="relevant">http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Wilbur/</a>
    <dd><span class="relevant">The HTML 3.2 (Wilbur) recommendation<br>
        [Includes all HTML 2 character elements and newer formatting elements in common use]</span>
<dt><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/" class="relevant">http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/</a>
    <dd><span class="relevant">The HTML 4.0 Recommendation<br>
        [Includes all 2.0, and 3.2 elements plus many new features]</span>
<dt><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS1.html" class="relevant">http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS1.html</a>
    <dd><span class="relevant">Cascading Style Sheets, Level 1<br>
        [Includes usage of DIV and SPAN]</span>
<dt><a href="http://wp.netscape.com/assist/net_sites/html_extensions.html" 
       class="relevant">http://wp.netscape.com/assist/net_sites/html_extensions.html</a>
    <dd><span class="relevant">Netscape Extensions to HTML 2.0<br>
        [Details CENTER element usage]</span>
<dt><a href="http://wp.netscape.com/assist/net_sites/html_extensions_3.html" 
       class="relevant">http://wp.netscape.com/assist/net_sites/html_extensions_3.html</a>
    <dd><span class="relevant">Netscape Extensions to HTML 3.0<br>
        [Includes ALIGN attributes of P and DIV]</span>
<dt><a href="http://home.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/3.0/relnotes/windows-3.0.html#Layout" 
       class="relevant">http://home.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/3.0/relnotes/windows-3.0.html#Layout</a>
    <dd><span class="relevant">Netscape 3.0 release notes<br>
        [Details the use of the MULTICOL element]</span>
<dt><a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/author/html/reference/elements.asp" 
       class="relevant">http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/author/html/reference/elements.asp</a>
    <dd><span class="relevant">Internet Explorer Tag reference<br>
        [Details HTML 2.0, 3.2 and common extensions. Also details MARQUEE element]</span>
</dl>

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